Anywhere I Would've Followed You
by The Little Monster 1024
Summary: She could vaguely hear the sound of the city. She heard cars honking, sirens racing toward their location, completely unaware that the two of them were trapped in the basement. The first responders had no idea that below the burning flames, below it all, they were trapped and running out of oxygen.


**Anywhere I Would Have Followed You**

* * *

 ** _"You're the one that I love,  
and I'm saying goodbye."_**

* * *

 _She could vaguely hear the sound of the city. She heard cars honking, sirens racing toward their location, completely unaware that the two of them were trapped in the basement. The first responders had no idea that below the burning flames, below it all, they were trapped and running out of oxygen..._

They had gone to lunch at Remy's, looking over phone records and medical files as they shared a basket of fries. After they had eaten as much as they could manage, both having lost most of their appetites under the weight of their case, they were going to talk to a person of interest in their case. Neither of them really believed that David Rios was their guy, but they were going to talk to him anyway, just in case. Their suspect was guilty of a number of small bombings throughout the city, targeting old buildings full of squatters. That's what had made it their case- the homicides of dozens of homeless people.

They knocked on the home of Rios' mother, an old woman who claimed that her son hadn't been home in days. As they were leaving, Rios sped by in his car. They chased after him, too caught up in their chase to call it in. They chased him for less than three blocks before he fled on foot and had run into an old, abandoned building.

They followed him inside, Beckett's gun drawn and Castle at her heels.

Rios sped down the stairs of the basement. They followed, the stairs creaking as they did.

Once they were downstairs, their suspect had disappeared. They walked slowly through the dirty basement, searching for any sign of the man. They looked through every room, down every hallway, Castle shining a flashlight to make up for the lack of electricity in the building.

They approached the last room and with her weapon drawn, she kicked the door of what looked to be a closet open. Inside, there were a couple brooms and an old, dusty mop.

When the room was cleared, she stepped back out, looking at her husband. "He's not down here."

Castle nodded, taking one last look around the basement before looking at her. "He must've found another staircase. Or he hid long enough for us to go by him before he ran back up. Maybe we should-"

The explosion was loud, the whole building shook with it. The building rumbled and the old lights at the top of the ceiling fell, shattering at their feet.

As one started to fall, about to land directly on Kate's head, Castle pushed her back; both of them went stumbling back into the broom closet. The door closed behind them and another explosion shook the building. The walls shook again, dust fell like snowflakes around them. Little pieces of the ceiling broke off and the walls cracked.

Kate pulled her arm out of Castle's grasp. "Shit, Castle, we have to get out of here." She grabbed the door handle and pushed, but nothing. She held tightly to the doorknob and used to shoulder to try to push the door open.

When it didn't work, she turned back to Castle. "Help me!" She said, panic rising in her chest.

"Yes, dear." Castle said, forcing a smile, trying his best to lighten the mood. They were going to be fine, they always were.

"Cute, Castle," She rolled her eyes. :"Come on."

Castle grabbed the knob and pushed with all his strength, following his wife's tactic and using his shoulder to push. He looked back at her when it didn't budge. He moved to the side a little to make room for her alongside him. "Here, let's try at the same time."

She nodded and got into position. "One," She began.

He nodded at her. "Two,"

"Three!" They said together as they threw themselves against the door.

"Ow." Castle said, stepping away from the closed door to rub his shoulder.

They tried again and again, but could not get the door to budge, the explosion leaving the doorframe disfigured and the door jammed. They'd tried everything they could with every item they could get their hands on.

They searched for their phones. Kate's was dead, useless, shattering when she threw it in frustration. Castle's was fully charged and lying on the floor outside the door, having been dropped as they stumbled into the closet.

They dust in the air was making in hard to breathe in the small space they were stuck in. They could smell the fire too; hear the quiet crackling of it above their heads as it made its way toward them.

Kate believed that they explosion had happened on the third or fourth floor. It wasn't close or large enough to cause them direct harm at the time, but it had set the old building ablaze. And they were trapped underneath it all.

She could vaguely hear the sound of the city. She heard cars honking, sirens racing toward their location, completely unaware that the two of them were trapped in the basement. The first responders had no idea that below the burning flames, below it all, they were trapped and running out of oxygen.

By now, they had hit the floor, staying as low as possible. It was growing more and more difficult to breathe. The air was hot, causing sweat to roll down their faces, the dust and debris sticking to them.

"Castle…" She said, unable to form the words she wanted, unable to think fully.

He looked at her. "We're gonna be alright." He told her, not really believing it himself.

She grabbed his hand, holding it tightly in her own. "I love you."

He smiled at her. "I-"

His sentence was cut off by the third and final explosion that sent the ceiling and the flames down on top of them.

* * *

Hours later, when the fire was contained and the remnants of the building were being sifted through for more dead homeless people, they'd found them.

Ryan cried.

Esposito got sick.

Lanie screamed.

The fire had destroyed their bodies, leaving them burnt and mangled beneath the flames and the rubble, except for their hands.

Their wedding rings glistened under the light of the flashlights.

Their hands were interlocked, clutching tightly to one another even in their last moments.

Always.

* * *

 **My Dad and I have been discussing the end of the show and this is what he said he wanted to happen. I knew that I got my love for angst from somewhere.**

 **Sorry for the lack of character death warning. Those who frequent my page are probably used to it, but it never fails that I get an angry review about it. With the fics that have a surprise element to them, I'm not going to add a spoiler.**

 **The song lyric usually posted at the beginning of my fics should give you an enough of an idea of what's going to happen.**

 **Besides, the 'angst and tragedy' tag on a one-shot should be warning enough, don't you think?**


End file.
